Coatings World - February 2011

One Million Cans and Counting

Paint recycling in New Zealand is due to hit a significant milestone in 2011, with the Resene Paint Wise paint and paint packaging recovery program expecting to get back its one millionth pack this year. Already over 100,000 liters of paint has been donated and over 100,000 kilograms of steel packaging has been recycled.

Following nearly five years of development, Resene Paint Wise was launched in 2004 by Resene to encourage paint users to minimize the effects of their decorating on the environment. The service with assistance from 3R Group then rolled out to the rest of New Zealand to become nationwide in mid 2007.

Residents can bring in unwanted paint and paint packaging, any brand, to one of the Resene ColorShops designated PaintWise Collection centers. Returns are monitored by store staff before being put into the PaintWise collection bins. This prevents abuse of the system, and avoids any nasty surprises when the bin is collected for processing.

Good quality Resene paint is provided free to community groups, waterborne paint is used for other applications such as covering graffiti, solventborne paint goes through a solvent recovery program and packaging is recycled.

Resene’s managing director, Nick Nightingale, said the PaintWise idea was conceived in 1999 and is an extension of the company’s commitment to the development of environmentally friendlier products and practices.

“Over fifty years ago, Resene turned the paint industry on its
head with the development of New Zealand’s first waterborne
paint,” he said. “Since then we’ve achieved a milestone of 15
years of Environmental Choice certification and developed a
highly successful environmental choice product range, but we
never intended to stop there and Resene Paint Wise is testament
to that.

Resene’s Paint Wise paint and paint packaging recovery program has donated more than 100,000 liters of paint and over 100,000 kilograms of steel packaging has been recycled. Pictured above is a Paint Wise collection bin, truck and an example of what is done with some of the recycled paint. Here a skateboard park receives a fresh coat to smooth out its surface and cover up graffiti at the same time.